What happens when someone dies and no one claims their body? In the case of Pierce County, the Medical Examiner’s office arranges the cremation of the decedents and provides a respectful distribution of the cremains in a non-denominational ceremony at sea.

Nearly 50 individuals who died from 2015 to 2017 have not been claimed by family members or friends. In some instances, relatives cannot be found. In other cases, family members declined to take possession.

To give the community one last chance to claim deceased individuals before the cremains are scattered, the Medical Examiner’s office has published death information (below) and invites interested parties to contact Amber Larkins at amber.larkins@piercecountywa.gov or 253-798-2894 by Aug. 24.

Here is the list of unclaimed, cremated remains.

• Melvin R. Augg, died at age 50 on 12/30/16 of natural causes while homeless in Tacoma. He remains unclaimed by his family.

• William Anthony Baker, died at age 54 on 05/05/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Tacoma. He remains unclaimed by his family.

• James K. Barrow, died at age 58 on 09/08/16 of natural causes at home in Eatonville. No family was found for him.

• Carol Mae Canter, died at age 62 on 01/09/17 of natural causes at home in Puyallup. No family was found for her.

• Boddy Gene Cauvel, died at age 58 on 01/20/17 of natural causes at home in Tacoma. No family was found for him.

• Dong Ho Chung, died at age 84 on 01/07/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Lakewood. No family was found for him.

• Gerald Robert Coates, died at age 58 on 11/17/16 of natural causes at home in Graham. No family was found for him.

• Loyal Emerson Day, died at age 61 on 03/26/17 of suicide by hanging at home in Lakewood. He remains unclaimed by his family.

• Pun Chong Dreadin, died at age 85 on 03/17/17 of homicidal violence in her home in Lakewood. No family was found for her.

• Samuel C. Dreadin, died at age 52 on 03/22/17 of suicide by jumping from bridge in Tacoma. No family was found for him.

• Donald G. Duncan, died at age 71 on 09/09/16 of natural causes at home in Lakewood. He remains unclaimed by his family.

• Dale V. Edmunds, died at age 69 on 06/29/17 of natural causes while residing in a hotel in Tacoma. No family was found for him.

• Vicki Lynn Emery, died at age 59 on 07/01/17 of natural causes while homeless in Tacoma. No family was found for her.

• Charles Gary Felts, died at age 75 on 07/22/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Tacoma. No family was found for him.

• Adriana Carmen Forbes, died at age 77 on 03/30/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Lakewood. No family was found for her.

• Barbara Ann Gibson, died at age 62 on 02/03/17 of natural causes while on hospice in University Place. Her children were not found.

• Joseph John Hadel (Deshotel), died at age 74 on 01/15/17 of natural causes at home in Tacoma. He remains unclaimed by his family.

• John Charles Hager, died at age 58 on 03/10/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Tacoma. He remains unclaimed by his family.

• Gayle Hardman, died at age 65 on 07/11/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Puyallup. She remains unclaimed by her family.

• Norman Walter Hartnell, died at age 63 on 11/17/16 of natural causes while in a mental health facility in Tacoma. No family was found for him.

• Larry A. Heathcock, died at age 60 on 05/17/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Puyallup. He remains unclaimed by his family.

• Edward Charles Henderson, died at age 67 on 07/11/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Puyallup. No family was found for him.

• Matthew J. Hoey, died at age 74 on 08/03/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Tacoma. No family was found for him.

• Jayceon Jones, was stillborn on 12/27/16 at a hospital in Tacoma. He remains unclaimed by his family.

• Lillie Kaufman, died at age 74 on 08/22/15 of natural causes while on hospice in University Place. She remains unclaimed by her family.

• Christine L. Larson, died at age 61 on 05/30/17 of natural causes while at home in University Place. She remains unclaimed by her family.

• Patrick A. Lee, died at age 60 on 08/27/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Tacoma. No family was found for him.

• Michael R. Magee, died at age 68 on 12/15/16 of natural causes while hospitalized in Lakewood. No family was found for him.

• Jean McDonald, died at age 55 on 08/09/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Gig Harbor. She remains unclaimed by her family.

• Donald Eugene Miller, died at age 63 on 08/18/17 of natural causes at home in Tacoma. No family was found for him.

• Elwyn O. Mitchell, Unknown age, unknown date of death, cremated remains found with two photographs and a bible under a tree in an unassociated cemetery in Tacoma on 06/27/17.

• Steven Leo Owens, died at age 62 on 11/28/16 of natural causes while in a skilled nursing facility in Tacoma. His family was not found.

• Baby Price, was stillborn on 04/08/17 at a hospital in Tacoma. She remains unclaimed by her family.

• Linda Larayne Ragsdale, died at age 57 on 01/03/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Tacoma. No family was found for her.

• Leah Jean Rardin, died at age 47 on 10/13/16 of natural causes while hospitalized in Tacoma. She remains unclaimed by her family.

• Charles Wesley Reynolds, died at age 60 on 11/24/16 of natural causes in his car in a hotel parking lot in Tacoma. No family was found for him.

• Chan Sap, died at age 68 on 02/03/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Tacoma. No family was found for him.

• Dennice Secrist, died at age 65 on 07/07/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Tacoma. No family was found for her.

• Michael D. Sorenson, died at age 52 on 12/28/16 of natural causes at home in Lakewood. He remains unclaimed by his family.

• Randy Jay Steele, died at age 40 on 03/03/17 at a hospital in Lakewood after an accidental overdose in Spanaway. He remains unclaimed by his family.

• John Phillip Stone, died at age 65 on 04/26/17 of natural causes at home in Puyallup. No family was found for him.

• Dean A. Studeman, died at age 84 on 01/03/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Puyallup. No family was found for him.

• William Henry Tyler, died at age 66 on 07/10/17 of accidental overdose near railroad tracks in Tacoma. No family was found for him.

• Cremated Remains Unidentified, unknown age, unknown date of death, found in wooden box left on a concrete light post at a grocery store in Tacoma on 07/01/2018.

• Male Unidentified, died at an unknown age on approximately 02/01/17. He was found in the Puyallup River in Tacoma. His remains unidentified and therefore no family has been found for him. He is listed in www.NamUs.gov where dental charting is present along with DNA analysis which is in process.

• Eugene Lyle Wright, died at age 65 on 07/25/17 of natural causes in a skilled nursing facility in Puyallup. No family was found for him.

• Lee C. Yeck, died at age 70 on 04/22/17 of natural causes in a skilled nursing facility in Tacoma. No family was found for him.